Free Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann Page B

and be happy.”
    She stood up. “All right. I’ll get out. But I won’t marry Allen Cooper. I’ll get another job.” She started for the door.
    “Go ahead. If you louse up your life, at least I won’t have to sit and watch.”
    “You’re not really a friend, Henry.”
    “I’m the best friend you’ll ever have.”
    “Then let me stay,” she pleaded. “Henry, you don’t understand. I don’t want to marry Allen. But if I leave here and get another job, it might be a job I don’t like. And Allen would be pressuring me, and all the publicity that would follow if I took another job . . . and Allen’s father with the questions. You don’t know what happens when Gino and Allen start in. It’s like you’re carried along, with no will of your own. Henry, please—help me. I don’t want to marry Allen Cooper!”
    “Anne, he’s got millions—billions, maybe.”
    “I ran away from Willie Henderson in Lawrenceville, Henry. Maybe he didn’t have as many millions as Allen, but he had money. And I’ve known Willie all my life, and his family. Can’t you see it doesn’t mean anything to me? I don’t care about money.”
    He was silent for a moment. “Okay,” he said finally. “You can stay . . . on one condition. You stay engaged to Allen.”
    “Henry! Are you out of your mind? Haven’t you been listening to me? I don’t want to marry Allen.”
    “I didn’t say marry. I said engaged! That way you’ll be safe.”
    “Safe?”
    “Yes. At least I won’t worry about you getting involved with Lyon. One thing about Lyon—he doesn’t go after another guy’s girl.”
    She smiled faintly. “At least you give him some code of honor.”
    “What honor? He doesn’t need that kind of trouble. There’s too much free stuff thrown at him.”
    “And what about me? If I stay engaged, what do I do with Allen?”
    “Stall him. You can do it. If you were smart enough to land him, you’re smart enough to stall him.”
    “But that’s dishonest. I don’t want to marry Allen, but I still like him as a person. It wouldn’t be fair.”
    “You’ll be more fair in the long run. First of all, you’ll be fair to me. I’ll have enough to worry about with the show starting without worrying about you. And you’ll be fair to Allen . . . yes, you will. Because at least he’ll have a chance to make a decent pitch. But most of all you’ll be fair to yourself because right now you can’t see any further than Lyon Burke.” He raised a hand to silence her objection. “No matter what you think, you’re stuck on him. But hang around, start reading the Broadway columns and see how fast he changes girls. The glow will wear off from that wonderful luncheon. And you’ll have saved your virginity and a lot of heartache.” He smiled as she colored. “Look, Anne, you’re pretty rare—we’ve got to take care of you.”
    She thought about it a moment, then shook her head. “I couldn’t do it, Henry. It would be living a lie.”
    “Anne . . .” His voice was gentle. “In time you’ll learn everything doesn’t have to be black or white. You can be honest with Allen. Tell him New York is still new, that you want to be on your own for a little while, not rush right into marriage. When will you be twenty-one?”
    “In May.”
    “Fine. Tell him you want to wait until then.”
    “And then what?”
    “By May another atom bomb could fall. Allen could meet another girl. Lyon Burke could turn into a fag. Who knows, anything can happen. You might even fall in love with Allen. But you can change your mind in May. Remember, you’re never stuck until you’re at the altar. And even then you can make a run for it before the final words are said.”
    “You make it sound so easy.”
    “When you’re climbing Mount Everest, nothing is easy. You just take one step at a time, never look back and always keep your eyes glued to the top.”
    She spotted the reporters and cameramen standing in front of her brownstone when she came